Friday, May 5, 2017

The Granite Dells

My husband and I went to Prescott, Arizona last week for a little get-away and for him to participate in the Whiskey 50 Off-Road mountain bike race. We love Arizona and have been exploring more and more of this beautiful state. The Prescott area was totally new to us. Like much of Arizona, it didn't disappoint. It's incredibly beautiful and the higher elevation makes it possible to visit and enjoy even more of the year than some of the hotter parts of the state.

We stayed at Point of Rocks RV Campground. They were very nice and there were full hook-ups for our RV. The location of the campground was great! It was right next to the Granite Dells. We even got a campsite with a view of them!

Before our trip, I'd Googled Prescott and pictures of The Dells popped up. The photos were jaw droppingly beautiful. The opportunity to camp right next to The Dells and hike in them was wonderful. We quickly headed out for a walk after setting up camp to check out the area and see some of the beauty. It was stunning!

This is a view looking out over Watson Lake...

Click on any photo to see it larger.

There were lots of wildflowers. Many of the bushes with these flowers were completely encased in flowers. It was amazing! Here's a view of just a few that aren't quite so crowded...

The cactus were blooming...

We scoped out the area to figure out where we wanted to hike the next day. And, what a hike it was! We hiked around Watson Lake and through the Dells. It was amazing! It was beyond words! It was so beautiful and so varied! And, SO fun!

There were more beautiful wildflowers...

There was the beautiful lake (like in the top photo) and at one far end of the lake was a wetland area that made me feel like we were in the South. It was gorgeous! I just couldn't stop saying, "WOW!". There were benches here and there throughout the hike to sit and take in the beauty.

One section of the hike went along a Rails-to-Trails path where old railroad tracks are turned into a trail for biking and hiking. That was cool to finally be on a section of something we'd only read about and seen photos of.

The rest of the trail wound around, over, and through giant granite boulders. At one point, we turned a corner to see lush green. The trail went down into it and along a stream. At the top of the stream was a roaring outflow of water coming from the center of the dam. It was a surprise as we didn't realize we'd be seeing water besides the lake.

We came upon this sign as we neared the end of the hike. It made us laugh but it wasn't joking! It was a steep climb up granite boulders. What was also funny was that both ways were just about as steep.

It's really hard to tell the scale of these boulders in photos or by looking at them from a distance. They are HUGE!

There's a section high above the lake and near the dam for more incredible views. That's my awesome hubby!

We saw a skink that was olive green with a red head and neck. We'd never seen anything like it and had to look it up when we got back to camp to figure out what it was. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a photo of it. It quickly ran away and hid from us. We also saw a garter snake crossing the trail. There were lots of lizards. And, we saw lots of beautiful butterflies. I did get a photo of one of them...

I could post a lot more photos but none of them truly capture what we saw and experienced on our six and a half mile hike. It turned out to be one of my all time favorite hikes...so far.

It counted as number 18 in my 52 hike challenge. My ankle did great! Yay! And, I was able to wear my old hiking shoes. I'm going to try my boots on again and see if my ankle is ok wearing them yet.

Hubby had a blast doing the race. He rode 54 miles in about six hours. He said there was a lot of steep climbing involved but he'd trained hard and enjoyed it a lot.

We explored the town of Prescott a bit. There are lots of antique stores and restaurants, and a few saloons left in the famous Whiskey Row. We went to the Palace Saloon on Sunday for a drink. We even saw old time western dudes walk in...complete with guns on their hips. We had a great time in Prescott and plan to return again someday. Maybe next time I'll even visit some of the yarn shops in town!